Thailand eyes India to boost tourism recovery after waiving visa for Chinese visitors
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The Thai Cabinet has approved temporary visa exemptions for Chinese and Kazakh tourists ahead of the high season.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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BANGKOK – Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin is eyeing holidaymakers from India to boost tourism, even as the South-east Asian nation plans visa waivers for travellers from China and Kazakhstan in the busy holiday season.
Mr Srettha said he would make a trip to India this year with plans to meet his counterpart, Mr Narendra Modi, and discuss increasing flight frequency between the two countries, including more services by flag carrier Thai Airways.
“There aren’t that many incoming flights from India yet due to internal politics,” Mr Srettha said in an interview during a media forum on Monday. “I hope to visit before the end of the year to negotiate on the issue.”
Thailand may also mull over other measures to boost Indian tourist arrivals.
These include offering tax exemptions on jewellery imported for Indian weddings held in Thailand, a popular destination for such ceremonies, he said.
As Indian tourists can already easily obtain Thai visas, a visa waiver may not be necessary, he said.
Mr Srettha’s comment came a week after his Cabinet approved temporary visa exemptions for Chinese and Kazakh tourists ahead of the high season.
Tourists from the two countries can enter Thailand without a visa between Sept 25 and Feb 29, and can stay for up to 30 days at a time.
The visa waiver programme is expected to bring in 35 billion baht (S$1.34 billion) from Chinese tourists, Mr Srettha said during the forum.
Thailand has been ramping up measures to boost the travel industry, a key growth driver of the second-largest economy in South-east Asia.
It aims to raise tourism revenue to its pre-Covid-19-pandemic levels, with a target of 3.1 trillion baht in 2024.
Thailand has welcomed 18.5 million foreign tourists so far in 2023, with as many as 28 million expected by the end of the year.
Revenue from foreign travellers totalled 775 billion baht as at Sept 11, according to the tourism ministry.
Before the pandemic, the nation hosted a record 40 million tourists in 2019. BLOOMBERG
